India Said to Summon Italy Envoy to Protest Decision on Marines

By Lorenzo Totaro and Andrew MacAskill -
Mar 12, 2013

India will summon the Italian
ambassador to protest the decision by his government not to
return two marines charged with killing Indian fishermen they
suspected of being pirates in seas off Kerala state.

The Ministry of External Affairs will ask envoy Daniele
Mancini why the men will not be coming back to New Delhi to face
trial, according to an Indian official, who asked not be named
because he is not authorized to discuss the matter. In a
petition to India’s Supreme Court, the Italian government had
guaranteed that the men would return.

The prosecution of the Italians was the first attempt to
hold armed maritime guards accountable for the deaths of
innocent people in an anti-piracy operation. Relations between
the two countries were further strained by allegations that
bribes were paid by a unit of Italy’s Finmeccanica SpA (FNC) to secure
the contract to supply 12 civilian helicopters to the Indian
government.

“They will never face justice now,” said John Churchill,
a Catholic priest who is general secretary of the South Asian
Fishermen Fraternity and a cousin of one of the dead fishermen.
“It is an insult to all of India.”

Opposition lawmakers disrupted India’s parliament to
protest the Italian decision. Legislators in both chambers
demanded to know what the Indian government would do to bring
the men back after they returned home to vote in Italy’s
elections.

A person who answered the phone at the Italian embassy in
New Delhi asked for all queries to be sent by e-mail. An e-mail
sent seeking comment from Mancini was not immediately returned.

‘Conspiracy’

Mancini had informed the Indian authorities that
Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone “won’t return to
India,” the European nation’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
The Italian government said India failed to respond to a request
to negotiate a diplomatic solution.

India’s government was informed of the Italian move late
yesterday and will make no further comment until it has reviewed
its position, said Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for the Ministry
of External Affairs.

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party accused the
government of working with the Italian government to end the
diplomatic standoff.

“This is unacceptable and we will not allow the government
to get away with this criminal conspiracy,” Tarun Vijay, a BJP
lawmaker, told reporters.

The marines were due to return to New Delhi to be tried for
the killing of the two fisherman in waters off the southern
state of Kerala in February 2012. The marines were acting as
guards on the Italian-flagged Enrica Lexie tanker as it sailed
to Egypt from Singapore, a route that includes crossing the
Indian Ocean, where Somali pirates operate.

Christmas Leave

They were allowed to return to Italy for Christmas after
the Italian ambassador gave a guarantee the men would be
returned. Mancini gave the same guarantee that the men would
return in petition to the Supreme Court.

The arrest of the Italians triggered a diplomatic rift
between Italy and India as they presented different versions of
the attack. Italy has argued that the men shot the two fishermen
in self-defense and that the marines should be tried in their
own country because the incident occurred in international
waters outside of India’s jurisdiction.

Ferrari Protest

Ferrari SpA, the Italian sports carmaker, even weighed in,
having two of its cars carry the flag of the Italian navy during
the Oct. 28 Formula One grand-prix race in New Delhi.

India’s Chief Justice ruled in January that the two men
could be put on trial in New Delhi, ordering hearings before a
specially convened court in the capital.

Separately, India’s government has ordered an investigation
by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged graft in
the helicopter purchase and is threatening to cancel the deal if
any wrongdoing is uncovered.

Finmeccanica Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Orsi has been
arrested on accusations of corruption and tax fraud as
authorities probe alleged illegal payments tied to the contract.
The company has denied the charges.